Alleged lottery ticket thief charged with hitting three other stores

By JAMES A. KIMBLEUnion Leader Correspondent

BRENTWOOD — A man charged with stealing $400 in lottery tickets from a Portsmouth convenience store is now facing charges that he carried out a similar ruse at stores in three Seacoast towns, prosecutors said.

.Nathaniel Glavin, 34, of Saco, Maine, is facing four new theft-related charges for allegedly stealing a variety of lottery tickets from stores in Stratham and Newfields. He also attempted to steal tickets from a Newmarket gas station, prosecutors said...Glavin allegedly hit all three stores last Dec. 24, and made off with an undisclosed amount of lottery tickets, according to court records.

The stores are Stratham Village Market in Stratham, Great Bay Shell in Newfields and the Irving gas station in Newmarket. The new charges were made public after a grand jury indicted Glavin on charges of receiving stolen property, attempted theft by unauthorized taking and two counts of theft by unauthorized taking...Prosecutors have not said how exactly Glavin distracted the store workers, but noted in the indictments that he has at least two prior theft convictions.

Portsmouth police began investigating a similar theft on Dec. 27 after someone took approximately $400 in lottery tickets from the Big Apple store on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth...Police said the thief redeemed some of his winning tickets at a local Market Basket.

Police released store surveillance footage to the public from one of the thefts. That led a Market Basket store clerk to call Portsmouth police on Dec. 31...Two Portsmouth officers pulled over Glavin while he was driving near the supermarket. Glavin allegedly gave police officers a false name and he was later arrested for operating after suspension and disobeying a police officer...The new slate of theft charges are all Class B felonies, punishable by up to 3½ to 7 years in state prison.

Glavin is being held at the Rockingham County jail. He will be arraigned on the theft charges in Rockingham County Superior Court...jkimble@newstote.com..